Show V 0- - V Touring the Continent was once reserved for the wealthy but this summer thousands of youth will travel abroad here's why y and how they're doing it By THEODORE IRWIN Each year chaperoned groups of youngsters learn about the world by touring it ' ) ' A America is avidly" exploring the world Young Main Street The shiploads of young- sters scheduled to cross the Atlantic this summer -rs reflect a new travel phenomenon: According to travel agencies the number of adolescents tripping abroad has quadrupled in the past three years Today they represent 10 percent of all US travel to Europe ' ' Among our younger set and their parents the foreign fever has spread throughout the nation Symptomatic was the recent remark of a owner in Pendleton Iowa “I don’t want my boy to be any different than his friends” he said “I’m sending him to Europe” The trend is marked by two significant facts: the tender age at which children are journeying without their parents and the democratization of in junior European touring Even high school are being signed up And travel that for so long used to be reserved exclusively for wealthy families is now practiced by a cross section of the middle class ' What’s behind the going-abroepidemic? diCline executive Justin J “Basically” says rector of American Youth Hostels “it’s our high standard of living — there’s more money to spend The grand tour of Europe is now within reach of the average teen-ag- er Everywhere he looks he sees enticing ads about faraway places Many become sophisticated at an earlier age and this too sparks a desire for travel” Other adult observers contend they find in our gadding youth “a marked cultural renascence” -and a more educationally rounded individual These adolescents want to see jwhat they’ve been reading about in school — Buckingham Palace St -Peter’s Basilica the Louvre Stratford-on-Avo- n the Left Bank The many parents who have taken European jaunts also infect their offspring with the travel virus Many have revived the idea of years ago ' that a young person’s education is incomplete until ‘ he has made the grand Jour Some consider their daughters more marriageable with such a broad-- 1 ened background Others bear in mind that deans ht of admission at colleges seem to prefer ol travel -- stained graduates Radcliffe Smith and Vassar specifically ask applicants to indicate where they’ve been and their general reactions to foreign journeys teens-on-tou- gas-stati- J 13-year-- ad 4 on top-flig- high-scho- 4 A the teen-age- rs go in organized groups ol '25 accompanied by mature or college teachers Relatively few students nowadays go off on lone-wo- lf vagabonding rambles and parents want a fixed itinerary so that Junior can be reached if necessary Most of the chaperoned groups travel by ship where the unfledged can quickly get to know one another" melt their shyness and enjoy shipboard dances and sports On the seven student ships under die auspices of the nonprofit Council on Student Travel a “TRIP” routine (Travelers Recreation-Information Program) includes language refresher courses art lectures talks on the history and politics of areas to be visited international sessions song and dance festivals and travel-ti- p Generally high-scho- Shipboard lectures are not always strictly cultural Last summer after a college professor concluded his talk on France and opened the floor for questions a Seattle lad asked “Where is Harry’s Bar?” After another lecture a girl piped up with' “Are Italian men as handsome as they say?” Wherever they’re headed there’s fun and a cer- tain amount of education inevitably to be absorbed Among the 25 different trips sponsored by the US National Student Association are ones in medicine journalism and spOrts on the latter you can play cricket in England water-s- ki in Italy and climb in the Alps spe-cializ- ing Bike tours appeal to the more adventurous teenagers Using youth hostels they can get by on $3 a day for shelter and simple meals House parents are in charge at hostels set up in schools camps churches farm homes and community centers No alcoholic beverages are permitted and generally there’s no smoking On these strenuous tours par-- ' ticipants must be good cyclists Swelling the summer invasion of Europe are young Americans lured by international work camps an inexpensive way of spending a vacation abroad though most require the payment of transportation and personal expenses Many organizations such! as the American Friends Service Committee enable students to work on some manual-lab- or project and carry on a program of discussion and study The American Student Information Service is a clearing house for students who’d like to work abroad on farms in forestry construction resorts hospitals child care and the like Wages are about $40 a month with room and board some pay merely pocket money iw Cost op the teen-ag- e trips ranges widely depends on the itinerary mode of travel and type of accommodation Youth Hostel trips average $700 for the summer while a typical conducted teen holiday runs to about ld ramble can be ar$1300 and a ' ranged for about $2000 are During their stay abroad our teen-age- rs adwide-eye- d eager to absorb all they can and venturous enough to taste all sorts of foreign concoctions Usually the itinerary is so jammed they haven’t- - a chance to be - bored --or- homesick “The trick” confides a veteran tour leader “is to wear them out so they won’t get into mischief” Meeting foreign students on their own level they talk gravely about educational systems politics social problems Like their parents they’re in- ( Continued on page 13) 55-d- ay V round-the-wor- f Family Weekly May 22 1960 i HHSasr c "t |